University Staff Say AI Can Help Them Identify and Support Struggling Students
2024年6月17日 - 10:30PM
A survey from education firm EAB showed that almost two-thirds (62
percent) of university student success staff believe AI could help
them identify students who need support—and 69 percent of staff say
they have used AI in their work over the past year. However, only
around 20 percent of respondents said their institution is
collecting information about how student success teams are using
the technology.
“EAB’s survey shows that student success professionals are
turning to AI to better support their students, even if their
institutions are not encouraging them to do so proactively,” said
EAB Director of Strategic Research, Tara Zirkel. “Advisors and
counselors want university leaders to provide training and help
them put institutional guardrails around their AI efforts to ensure
they use the technology responsibly.”
Moreover, 61 percent of respondents would like to be able to
dedicate at least some work time to experimenting with AI
technology, and the same percentage would like the opportunity to
learn from peers who are using AI. Still, 71 percent of respondents
say their institution never or rarely encourages student success
teams to share what they are learning about AI with their
peers.
Along with a desire for greater adoption of AI, student success
professionals also expressed the need to exercise caution.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said they feared AI might
introduce errors in communication that could negatively impact
students. Fifty-four percent worry that AI-generated content might
contain more bias than content generated solely by university
staff.
EAB’s report, “From Caution to Curiosity: Success Staff Weigh In
On AI's Role in the Future of Student Support,” also contains
recommendations for helping universities develop a strategy to
foster responsible adoption of AI across the institution. Those
recommendations include the following objectives:
Centralize Institutional AI Efforts: Make AI a
strategic priority by developing a cross-functional team that
collects AI best practices and evaluates enterprise systems that
use AI to help scale student support efforts.
Develop AI Collaboration Spaces: Create
dedicated time for AI professional development and promote
peer-to-peer sharing of strategies and best practices.
Debate How to Do AI “Right”: Openly address
lingering staff concerns about AI risks and share examples of
tested AI use cases.
“EAB has invested significant time and effort in finding the
right way to incorporate AI tools into our Navigate360 and Starfish
student recruitment and retention systems,” Zirkel added. “We know
that AI can help improve student outcomes, and we are excited to
partner with university leaders to ensure their teams have the
right technology and AI capabilities to help more students persist
and graduate.”
About the SurveyEAB’s survey was distributed to
student success professionals and executive leadership at colleges
across the United States in March and April 2024. The survey was
completed by 221 respondents, including advisors, deans, financial
aid professionals, cabinet-level leaders, and more at two- and
four-year schools of varying sizes, including both public and
private institutions.
About EABAt EAB, our mission is to make
education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more
than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through
data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From
kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and
practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across
enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data
analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently,
tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and
enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership
team, as well as the students and employees they serve. Learn more
at eab.com.
John Michaels
EAB
(202) 747-1788
jmichaels@eab.com